MWC's Thompson: ESPN3, late kickoffs, par for course

Even though the MWC's deal with ESPN has had some drawbacks, feedback from schools mostly positive, said commissioner Craig Thompson

San Diego State vs Fresno State Mens Basketball at Viejas Arena. Winston Shepard gives a glare after being fouled in the second half. Shepard finished the game with 17 points.
— Sean M. Haffey / Photo Sean M. Haffey UT San Diego.

San Diego State vs Fresno State Mens Basketball at Viejas Arena. Winston Shepard gives a glare after being fouled in the second half. Shepard finished the game with 17 points.
— Sean M. Haffey / Photo Sean M. Haffey UT San Diego.

Thanks to the TV rights deal the conference signed in March 2013, Mountain West football returned to ESPN last fall for the first time since 2005.

In an interview with the U-T during this week’s NCAA Convention, Mountain West Commissioner Craig Thompson this said he’s heard mostly positive feedback from schools after a full football season under the conference’s new TV contract.

“There’s great excitement from the coaches,” Thompson said, adding that the exposure is good for recruiting because every 18 to 22-year-old sports fan in the country watches ESPN in some form.

But as Aztecs fans found out this week, when 10th-ranked San Diego State played Fresno State in a men’s basketball game that was only available for online broadcast on ESPN3, there are some drawbacks too.

ESPN makes decisions on which of its networks it will broadcast Mountain West basketball and football games on. This can range from ESPN to ESPN2, ESPNU and the online streaming channel ESPN3.

In the instances where a game is picked up for ESPN3, Thompson said it’s extremely unlikely that ESPN would agree to sell broadcast rights to any of the local networks.

The conference office has also heard complaints from the membership about the late kickoff times for the football games that were picked up for broadcast on the ESPN family of networks. But this isn’t going to change any time soon either.

“I heard from a lot of folks that an 8:30 M.T. game on Saturday night on ESPNU is just too late, too cold or too dark,” Thompson said. “Well, that’s where they’re going to put us. That’s why they’re paying us the rights fee because they have all the programming they need from noon to 8 p.m.

“That’s where we are going to be slotted for ESPN. They still have (the 8:30 p.m.) timeslot open, and we’re on this side of the country. If you recall, in the last couple of years, the Pac-12 is usually the last half of college football played. We have now become the last half of college football.”

The conference's media rights deal with ESPN and CBS Sports Network goes through the 2019-20 season, and is reportedly worth $18 million annually.

Bowl revenue distribution formula

SDSU is still trying to finalize its bowl revenue figures from its trip to Boise, Idaho for the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl.

The Mountain West is also still working on its bowl revenue distribution formula.

In 2012, the conference helped Fresno State will some of the costs associated with traveling to the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl, and this season, Utah State – which played in the Poinsettia Bowl – and UNLV – which played in the Heart of Dallas Bowl have both asked the conference for help with bowl expenses.

“The intention has always been to have a school not lose money (going to a bowl),” Thompson said. “But the tradeoff is (whether) you help those six that go to a bowl, and then the other six that don’t get to a bowl get even more ostracized because not only did they not get to a bowl, but their revenue is paying UNLV’s band to go to the Heart of Dallas Bowl.”

The conference is currently reevaluating its bowl distribution formula. In 2012, SDSU received $342,396 in bowl money for playing in the Poinsettia Bowl.